'02 Taurus 100k miles here, and as you can see from the first picture the top part of my right strut spring has broken off. WTH is this common? Never seen this before.

Second picture shows the top components of the strut which should receive the top of the spring have broken off as well.

Third picture looks up and shows where the top of the strut assembly should be and that the new top of the spring now rests on bare sheet metal. From viewing inside the hood there hasn't been any deformity yet.

Problem is...with all that spring pressure in there I don't know how to get this thing out. Now that the top of the strut assembly is broken there's nothing to contain the upward force of the spring and it's gonna keep tension with the top of the wheel well the whole time it's being worked out.

Any suggestions on how to go about this? Only thing I can think of is to tie the spring down all over with heavy tow straps and go at it with a cut wheel until it's cut through and the tension is relieved.

 

This is quite common if you live where there is a lot of salt on the roads.
As you can see it rusted through and broke at the weak spot.

There are tools available to compress the spring coils so the strut can be removed. Attempting to cut the coils might work, but you need to be careful there is no tension on any part of the spring. The entire strut assy will need to be replaced.
Assembled strut units are available and you would be best served to consider them. By all means either you do both sides or have both done at the same time. AND a front end alignment is required when finished..
Once you get all the old parts out , installing the assembled units is quick and easy. New stuff is always nicer to work with.

 

Thanks hanky. I forgot about those spring clamps...hate those damn things. Couple close calls already with em. I put at least 3 on any spring I've worked with in the past. But yeah they're probably a better idea than the cut wheel. I've got a set of monroe quick struts ordered so they'll be changed out soon.

 

Forgot to mention that before this happened there was something else going on in the suspension/steering. I'm thinking it's some kind of bushing because both tie rod ends are ok. What happens is that under moderate to heavy breaking the front end shimmys as if the wheels are being allowed to free steer left and right somewhat. Along with installing a new set of Monroe Quick Struts I'll probably go ahead and change out both A shaped control arms and lower ball joint. Although I'm not entirely sure how well the control arm bushings are doing, one ball joint has it's boot broken so I'm sure those are probably ready to go. The cars old but she's in good shape with low mileage so I might as well get those done while I'm in there. Any thoughts on replacing these extra parts? Going with Moog it adds about $150 to the project.

 

With the assistance of a helper, I would do a front end inspection for play before guessing and replacing parts. Should be easy to spot.

Most of the Fords I have owned have had broken springs, mostly in the front. Very common especially when they are rusted. It can get dangerous if the spring breaks while in motion and punctures the tire.

 

raski that's what I was thinking too...get a helper. Last night I got a prybar under there and found the lower ball joint on that same side moves about 1/4" so that could be part of the shaking I've seen before. Got to pry test the bushings on the control arm and they seemed alright so I'll save myself the expense and leave those alone for now. We'll see how she drives after I get both struts and ball jonts changed out. Forgot to mention at the start that I got no play doing the 3-9 and 12-6 push tests so I've leaned away from it being the tie rod ends.

 

Looks like you found a problem. 1/4 inch is way too much slop.